Did You Know That Construction Work Can Be Lucrative?
Even if you don’t have a college degree, construction training school might be the path to a gratifying career. Construction is a growing and in-demand field that Tradesmen International reports will only continue to boom well into 2020. According to the report, “Construction has a 4.5% projected growth rate over the next several years, making construction staffing the leading industry in wage and employment growth.” And those numbers are sure to get even stronger.
But that’s not the only reason why you should consider construction training school. Construction is an intellectually stimulating field where hard work and quick thinking can help specialists succeed. It also has been ranked as one of the best fields to go into without a college degree.
Not sure where to start? Construction work has many different avenues for specialties which each have a vast amount of career opportunities. At a construction training school, such as West Coast Training, we can train you in many different areas of expertise that will prepare you for a long-lasting career. Our students specialize in heavy equipment operation, crane and rigger operation, commercial driving training, and mobile crane operation. Each field has its pros and cons, but all of them can earn you the money and the respect of being in an in-demand field.
If you need help deciding which path is right for you, we’re here to help. We’ve compiled the information you’ll need to know before choosing your path. Take a look:
Heavy Equipment Operation
Heavy equipment operation is the skill of knowing how to manually operate heavy equipment such as backhoes, dozers, graders, excavators, loaders, scrapers, vibratory compactors, and utility tractor and trenchers.
In our construction training school, students will learn basic civil engineering concepts, workplace safety, applied mathematics, project layout, and basic surveying. This includes the proper use of laser levels, transits, chain and rod, plumb bobs, and hand levels.
And once your eight-week course is complete, graduates can expect to go on earn lucrative salaries. While rates vary from state to state, the top ten percent of paving and surface operators made about $64,000 annually and the national average per hour wage was around $18.99. Additionally, the top ten percent in operating engineers made about $72,000 annually with an average hourly wage of $21.98.
Crane and Rigger Operation
In our crane and rigger operation program, students will learn how to safely operate cranes and rig loads baring construction materials including hook block and overhaul ball and using the concrete bucket, clam-shell, or drag-line attachments.
Our eight-week program focuses on hands-on learning and once students complete their courses they can expect to enter into a workforce in a high salary range. While rates may vary, the national average hourly wage for a crane operator was between $24 and $26. A crane dispatcher’s annual salary ranges from $62,000 to about $67,000. And a rigger’s hourly rate was about $20 to $22 per hour, with the national average salary standing at $49,000.
Commercial Driving Training
Getting your commercial driving license is no easy feat, but in our construction training school, we can teach you the key rules. Our students learn how to inspect the vehicles before their trips, steer large vehicles in-and-out of loading docks and around tight corners, hook and unhook trailers, and load and unload heavy equipment.
Our four-week program will ensure that you’ll be on the path to success. A student truck driver can earn about $41,000 annually. A commercial driver’s license (or CDL) truck driver can earn $66,000 per year on average, but the national median pay was about $62,000 annually.
The pay only grows as you pass your first year as a driver with team truck drivers earning about $71,000 per year and owner-operators earning as high as $270,000 — but that number doesn’t include the money needed for repairs or operating fees.
Mobile Crane Operation
In our mobile crane operation program, we teach students how to competently use large hydraulic, small hydraulic, and lattice boom trucks and crawler mounted mobile cranes. This hands-on program includes rigging loads with hook block and overhaul ball, smooth operating techniques, lifts, signaling, and rigging.
Once you’ve completed our four-week program, you can expect the payoff for your hard work to be exponential. The national average hourly wage for mobile crane operators is about $24 and the national average annual salary is about $59,000. However, overtime pay can increase those numbers significantly.
The average range for overtime pay was anywhere from $20.23 to $59.02 meaning that should you take on the extra work, your annual salary could be well into $60,0000.
If you’re having a hard time choosing a specialty, why not try multiple paths? Our research has found that employers value workers who have expertise in multiple fields and can be versatile on a job site.
No matter which path you choose at West Coast Training, we will help you succeed in both your education and your post-graduate career. Our belief in providing a hands-on experience and on-the-job training makes for better quality graduates, which is recognized by the construction community locally and abroad.
Our career advisors will also help you find the connections you’ll need to land your first position, even assisting through the process of writing your resume and going on interviews. We know that every student has the potential to be a success and we want to be there for you every step of the way.